08 September 2011

Everybody in the House...

From the judges report: This is an intriguing psychological drama about a
girl whose childhood is blighted... there is a gripping contemporary framing
narrative where the girl, now an elderly resident of a nursing home, is visited
by 16 year old Carly. These sections are beautifully crafted, Mrs Cartwright's
acerbic comments to Carly are often very humorous, and the relationship which
develops between them is warm and moving. This is a most impressive novel which
stays with, and haunts the reader long after it concludes.

From the judges report: Through its two narrators, 15-year-old Tilly
Sweetrick and 13-year-old Poesy Swift, this excellent historical novel for
teenagers, tells the extraordinary story of a troupe of child performers aged
seven to 18 years, touring with Percival's Lilliputian Opera Company
through South East Asia and India in the first decade after Federation.